Interruptions
Interrupting is a common and completely legal tool used during combat situations in role play. With the very nature of all things role play being what it is, how to use them and when to use them is where illegality comes into play. Knowing how to interrupt properly and when it is feasible as well as the logic behind interruptions will help you become a better role player. Consider this somewhat real life situation. You are in the bar, having a few drinks with a friend and a woman comes over. You buy her a drink and start chatting and laughing, she caresses your arm… and then you hear a commotion on the other side of the bar. Glaring at you like you just disrespected his momma, a lumbering man filled with rage screams in your direction. His feet start moving towards you, his fists balled tightly as he spews threats upon your life. He has every intention of stomping the hell out of you. He knows he is going to grab you up by your collar and bury his fist in whatever part of your face it lands on. Now, the question is what would you logically do? Are you going to sit there and wait until he does everything he intends to do and then when he is done, react? Or when you heard him and realized he was coming for you react. You could run, you could grab a bottle and try to smash him. It doesn’t really matter what you would do…. It is when you do it that is important. Role play is no different than real life situations. Your opponent’s post, will show what they are intending to do and then, you get to decide how your character handles the situation. Everything your opponent posts is an intent, an attempt. This is what they plan to do. You are the one who gives it the power to happen when you acknowledge it with your reply. When your character/post recognizes something their character did, then it has happened. To successfully interrupt you need to find the specific moment in your opponent’s post where a scale metaphorically tips and it becomes allowable to interrupt. A post is typically constructed of stages. There is the acceptance and acknowledgement of the actions posted before. Essentially, you will reiterate the movements of your opponent, some sort of indication that your character witnessed them. In the above mentioned example, if we transition it to role play, your post may say something along the lines of “His head cocked to the side at the commotion on the other side of the bar, his eyes widening as the angry behemoth yelled and stalked towards him.” This is accepting what has happened and agreeing to it. The next stage would be reacting. You type out how you intend to react to whatever happens. All of your reactions are an attempt and will not come into existence until they are acknowledged by your opponents post. This is what you intend to do. There is an exact moment in every post where you transition from acceptance to attempt. This is the point where interrupts can be made. In the example, since we recognized and accepted the man yelling and walking towards us… we can interrupt him there. It would not be possible or make sense if we acted before that because our character would have no triggers to change his course of action. The timing has to be logical and within the abilities of your character. This is crucial for legality and also a very contended point. Please, be honest with yourself and your opponent. If your character is an ordinary human in the situation above chances are he wouldn’t notice if our brute was looking at him. If you were to interrupt the moment the guy witnessed you talking to the girl, chances are it will be refuted. Your character is not going to notice a pair of eyes on him in a crowded bar when he is laughing and having a conversation with the girl. His attention is focused on her. In a successful interrupt, your character has to have a recognizable reason to react within his capabilities. We now have an understanding of when the proper and legal time is, but how far can you go back. What can you change in your attempts and intentions? You cannot change anything that your opponent has already acknowledged. So essentially, you have to read your opponents post and find the moment they stop acknowledging what your character has done and start with their attempt. You couldn’t interrupt your opponent in the potential bar fight and rewrite things so that you never talked to the girl in the first place. His character saw that and acknowledged it happened. You could only go back and change the things you were going to do after she touched your arm and he yelled out and started barrelling towards you. Say you may have intended to lean in for a kiss after she touched your arm. That was what you were going to attempt to do. His reaction to her touching your arm, changed your focus and you would change course. That kiss would never happen. Anything you have done, that was recognized and accepted cannot be changed. It gets a bit hazy because often times a person will post their attempt under the assumption that your character is going to follow through exactly has you intended without consideration that their actions are possibly going to change how your character behaves. So the way they word their attempt may include reciting bits of what your character planned on doing. However, this is not accepting it because they are in the process of attempting to do something. The final thing to consider when using an interrupt properly is if it is possible. Can your character realistically react based on the timing and the abilities they possess? In an RM fight, you will oftentimes commit to a move in a sense. If you are swinging your sword with all your might and your opponent changes their course, stopping mid swing and changing directions effortlessly defies the laws of physics. Your character does not possess the ability to alter physics and ignore forces like inertia. When deciding if your character is capable of something, you really have to be honest with yourself and also be very aware of what is actually occuring in the role play. It is important to know your character’s limitations and abilities and have a very good understanding. It is also important to pay attention to the setting and environment that the role play is taking place in. You also have to understand what your opponent has done and where they are at and basically, just know what the heck is going on.